Movie Trivia for Watchmen
Memorable Quotes
Rorschach: None of you seem to understand. I’m not locked in here with you. You’re locked in here with *ME*!
Rorschach: I heard a joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he’s depressed. Says life is harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world. Doctor says, “Treatment is simple. The great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go see him. That should pick you up.” Man bursts into tears. Says, “But doctor… I am Pagliacci.” Good joke. Everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum. Curtains.
Adrian Veidt: I’m not a comic book villain. Do you seriously think I would explain my master stroke to you if there were even the slightest possibility you could affect the outcome? I triggered it 35 minutes ago.
Rorschach: A Comedian died last night, and nobody cares. Nobody cares but me.
Edward Blake: Once you realize what a joke everything is, being the Comedian is the only thing that makes sense.
Sally Jupiter: I’m 67 years old. Every day, the future looks a little bit darker. But the past… even the grimy parts of it… keep on getting brighter.
Adrian Veidt: For someone that calls himself The Comedian, I can never tell when you’re joking.
Trivia
Zack Snyder based his storyboards for the film on the panels of the actual graphic novel. He has stated that in order to be true to the source when adapting a graphic novel to the screen, the original visual art should be respected as much as the written portion. Snyder personally asked Dave Gibbons, the novel’s artist, to design the first teaser film poster. Gibbons enthusiastically agreed and designed the poster to have subtle visual clues hinting at the film’s plot. When casting the film, each actor was presented with a script and a copy of the book. They were allowed to carry the latter on set and re-write dialog to better match that of the source material. Dozens of scenes reenact panels from the novel. A good example is Rorschach squatting on the windowsill about to enter The Comedian’s apartment near the start of the film.
The trailer features the song “The Beginning is the End is the Beginning” by Smashing Pumpkins, which was originally a B-Side for the single “The End is the Beginning is the End”, the theme from Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin.
When offered the role of Adrian Veidt, Matthew Goode had never read the graphic novel. He called a friend who had and asked if he should even bother to read the script. Not only did the friend say yes, he insisted that Goode immediately read the graphic novel and accept the role without question. Later, after he read both the script and the novel, Goode admitted his friend was right to make him take the role without delay.
The first trailer for the film, which premiered with The Dark Knight sparked so much interest that it sent the graphic novel back onto the bestseller list. Barnes and Noble Bookstores reported selling out of the novel nationwide.
Premiered in more theaters (3,611) than any other R-rated movie. Scored the biggest debut of 2009 with a $55.7 mil weekend gross, in March of the same year, until Monsters vs Aliens opened a few weeks later.
A copy of the graphic novel “Watchmen” can clearly be seen on Dan’s desk in the scene where he and Laurie first make love. Malin Akerman has confirmed its presence in public comments. At 2:14:30 of the two-disc director’s cut, a copy of the same book is on the bottom shelf of Hollis Mason’s bookshelf when he is being beaten up by the Top Knots.
During the scene in which Dan and Laurie are having dinner you can hear someone in the background say “I’m glad I ordered the four-legged chicken!” In the corresponding scene in the original graphic novel, there is an image of a waiter carrying a four-legged chicken.
The shooting of President John F. Kennedy in the movie is framed exactly like the famous “Zapruder film”, the only film showing the actual assassination. In the foreground, just as Kennedy is hit, you see Abraham Zapruder with his camera.
All of the U.S. flags in the film have 51 stars, because in the film’s alternate history, Vietnam became the 51st state after America won the Vietnam War.
Richard Nixon’s address to the world at the end of the film is strikingly similar to George W. Bush’s response to the September 11 attacks: “None of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom, and all that is good, and just in our world. Thank you, good night, and God bless America.” In the film, Nixon’s line is “This is a day we shall never forget. And yet we go forward to defend the human race, and all that is good and just in our world. Thank you. God bless us all.”
Goofs
A newscast lists the arrested Walter Kovacs’ age as 35. However, all other plot points, plus the actor’s age (47), show that the character’s age is 45, not 35.
In the prison, as Silk Spectre and Night Owl are fighting the inmates down the cell block, Silk Spectre’s boots go from high stiletto heels to flats.
In the scenes on Mars, two moons of approximately the same size as ours can be seen in the sky. However, the larger moon, Phobos, is 1/4 the apparent size of our moon when viewed from Mars, the other moon, Deimos, is much smaller – 5% of our moon’s apparent size. Neither moon is as spherical as depicted, nor clearly visible from the surface.
As the camera zooms out from the crime scene at The Comedian’s apartment, the Chrysler Center is visible in the reflection of the glass, but is not visible as the camera zooms out far enough to be able to see where it should be.
Box Office Info For The USA
Budget: $130,000,000
Gross: $185,258,983 (Worldwide)
Filming Dates: September 17, 2007 to February 19, 2008
Filming Locations
Bloedel Floral Conservatory, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
British Columbia Institute of Technology, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Canadian Motion Picture Park Studios, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada (studio)
Marine Building – 355 Burrard Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Nat Bailey Stadium, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
New York City, New York, USA
Old Terminal Pub, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Riverview Hospital, Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada
Tanex Industries, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada